Chubby Checker started something that swept the country in 1960 when he sang and danced “The Twist” on the stage of New York’s Peppermint Lounge. The most recent Twist (a Federal Reserve program that plans to sell $400 billion of short-term Treasuries in order to drive down prices and use the proceeds to buy long-term Treasuries to cause their yields to fall) will not be nearly as big a hit. For one thing, even if it were well conceived it is not big enough to make much of a difference. For another, the only entities in position to take advantage of low long-term rates are large liquid corporations and wealthy individuals who don’t really need them.

What our country needs at this moment is not monetary tinkering but structural realignments. The results should not focus on encouraging borrowing, speculating, or spending, the architects of our current problems, but upon debt reduction and saving. Two measures that I have mentioned before would help accomplish this end.

Our tax code could use both simplification and re-orientation. It should no longer favor borrowing at the expense of saving and investing. If the basis of taxation were shifted gradually from income to consumption, both saving and investment would rise as borrowing decreased. Loopholes, such as those that allow the deduction of interest, should be closed. Levies on gasoline, cigarettes, and added values would not only raise revenues but they would also help reduce detrimental practices, such as the overuse of energy. With less debt and more saving individuals would be more able to defray the costs of retiring and staying healthy.

The Dodd-Frank financial reform law is a mess. It is almost impossible to comprehend and even harder to enforce. Big financial institutions can afford to hire top talent (including former regulators) that will show them how to avoid legislated strictures. In short, this complex imposition neither protects the public nor restrains participants.

If the banking side of the financial business (deposits, savings, and loans) were fenced off so that it was tightly controlled, well capitalized, and safe the public would have a haven for its capital. The casino side of the business (everything else) should remain lightly regulated, unsubsidized, and allowed to fail. The watchwords for any would be players should be caveat emptor, the same as they are in Las Vegas.

Were these measures to be enacted, our long-term financial outlook would improve significantly. There would be less monetary tinkering and money flows would be redirected to where they are most needed. But to get into this position the public and its elected representatives would have to raise their sights beyond the next elections to realize that epic changes are called for. Only strong, perceptive leadership can get us to that point. Until it surfaces, I am afraid that this country will continue twisting in the wind.